Blending
by SamKo
Summary: Steven is unfamiliar with Pokéblocks. May gets him acquainted. For Day One of Daiharu Week 2015. ORASverse.


Happy first day of DaiHaru week, everyone! Here's my contribution for the first prompt, **sweet.**

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"What do you mean you don't have a Pokéblock Kit?"

"I've just never seen the need to have one," Steven shrugged in response, "Pokéblocks are more of a coordinator thing, and I've never particularly been into that."

"Oh, but Steven!" May went on, pulling her Pokéblock Kit out of her bag and on to Steven's dining room table, with complete disregard for both the scattered periodicals spread out before them and the fact that Steven looked completely unenthused. She did this, from time to time; when she deemed whatever Steven was up to as too "un-fun," she'd invite herself in and pretty much took over his table. Steven would never say it out loud, but he didn't horribly mind. He probably needed to take more breaks between his long shifts of studying and research, and having company was always nice, especially when that company was May. "They're fun to make, and Pokémon love them! Don't your Pokémon deserve treats every once in awhile?"

"I do treat my Pokémon from time to time, _thank you very much_ ," Steven immediately retorted back, his voice taking on an irritated pitch, "and I'm slightly offended that you'd assume that I _don't_. My Pokémon accompany me while exploring and researching across Hoenn outside of their Pokéballs."

May was already setting up her berry blender when Steven said this, and those words made her stop in the process. "Steven, Pokéblocks are like candy, but for _Pokémon_. You know no one can resist candy. Plus, they increase the health of your Pokémon's coat, or skin, or…" May paused trying to understand the various hides of Steven's Pokémon. She immediately thought of Skarmory, and wasn't about to guess specifically what it was made of, knowing she'd guess wrong, "whatever it is your Pokémon have for exteriors."

Steven took a moment to stop what he was doing and observe May's berry blender and Pokéblock case. The case looked about halfway full, with various different colored blocks inside. He picked the case up and tapped the top into his hand, a green block popping out. "You said they're like candy for Pokémon, correct?" Steven asked, reiterating what May said prior. "I don't feed my Pokémon anything I wouldn't eat, so I should be able to consume them without any issue as well, right?"

"Uh, right, but Steven!" May tried to say before what she saw, but she was too late. Well, she hadn't expected _that_ , especially from Steven. He had already popped the green Pokéblock into his mouth, and after a few seconds, May could visibly see the jolt travel up his spine before his face contorted into what could only be described as taking a bite into a lemon.

"…May…" Steven attempted to say, his voice coming out in a strain with his eyes now shut and his expression still twisted, "I thought you said they were like _candy_ …"

"Yeah, _like_ candy," May said trying not to laugh at her mentor's strange behavior. She had expected something like that from a child, and not from Hoenn's dreamboat. Everyone had their culinary weaknesses though, and apparently the prospect of candy was Steven's. "Pokéblocks come in all different flavors, depending on what qualities you're looking to increase in your Pokémon," she explained between giggles.

"Shouldn't they be sweet?" Steven asked accusingly, evidently not appreciating her laughing tone. "Why would you make ones that taste so bitter? You had said that these are supposed to be treats for Pokémon. Which ones are the sweet ones?"

May didn't want to outwardly laugh too much, but Steven was making that difficult for her. Him suddenly being insistent on needing something sweet was just so unexpected, and assumingly a side to the former champion that most of Hoenn didn't see. She began to pull bags of Custap and Kasib berries out of her fanny pack, and started dividing them into groups of four on the table. Steven, having now recovered from the bitter Pokéblock, watched her curiously as she prepped to use her berry blender. She put four pink berries in together in the top blender portion, and once the lid was secured, turned the machine on. She glanced to look at Steven, whose face could only be described as filled with curiosity. The blending was done, and the blended berries fell into the lower compartment of the machine, where they would be processed into Pokéblocks.

"Well, look who's suddenly interested?" May taunted, and snatched the Pokéblock case that was still in Steven's hand. He blinked a few times to recollect himself and recognize that he had zoned out. "I thought Pokéblocks were just for coordinators?" May added.

"I was obviously mistaken…" Steven mumbled, "and while it's true that Pokéblocks are only marketed towards coordinators, there is always something quite alluring about homemade sweets." A faint blush rose to his cheeks at his last quip, but to his relief, May didn't seem to notice. She had already popped the lid off of her Pokéblock case and was starting to open the side drawer of the berry blender. Once the drawer was open, four perfectly crafted pink Pokéblocks were revealed, and Steven surprised himself with his inability to breath properly at the sight of them.

Now noticing his awkward gawking, May gingerly lowered her fingers into the drawer and pulled out a solitary block. "Would you like to try one now?" she asked, offering the block to him, "I promise these are sweet." May had to have noticed his blush by now, Steven was sure of it. He didn't like how flustered this simple gesture was making him, but he didn't know how to stop it, either. There was simply something about May making sweets for him in his living room that was making his head buzz. He carefully took the block from her, and upon further examination, noticed that the block was actually full of shades of pink, and still had visible pieces of berry within it.

Still cautious because of his first attempt at eating a Pokéblock, Steven slowly put the piece in his mouth, but it only took him a second after to drop his hand into his lap in pure bliss.

"So…what do you think?" May asked after Steven ate it, "good enough to feed to your Pokémon?"

Steven was still trying to recover at how horribly cliché he felt due to his recoiling heart. He needed to remain cool and aloof with May, and some perfectly delicious Pokéblocks that she made right in front of him, for him, were not going to change that!

"Absolutely, but, May…" he managed to say, but something had occurred to him, "that bitter one I had before…surely your Pokémon do not care for such a taste?"

May giggled again. She didn't think there was anything she did outside of battling that would've garnered Steven's interest. "Pokémon have different preferences based on their nature. Some Pokémon really do like the bitter taste the best! But along with their favorites, they also have flavors that they completely hate."

"Really? And this is something that is coupled with their nature? Fascinating…" Steven mused.

That was what was too much for May, and she errupted into a fit of laughter, much to Steven's confusion. "Really now, May, what could be so amusing right now?"

"I'm sorry, it's just," she managed, wiping a tear from the corner of her eye, "You know absolutely nothing when it comes to what coordinators do for their Pokémon. You were so adament about having a sweet Pokéblock, and you hated the bitter one. It's just like a Pokémon with a naïve nature!"

May started laughing again, and instead of being upset, Steven's face shifted into a soft smile. Even if it was unintentional, he only dreamed of making May laugh like that. When May finally stopped laughing, she took out another Pokéblock and started to bite into it, but left half of it just outside of her lips. Before Steven could even let himself get flustered at the sight of it, said half of Pokéblock found itself right in front of his lips, and his blue eyes met brown as the hair of their foreheads brushed. Arms went around his neck and a weight was added to his lap as legs slipped under the arms of the chair he was seated in.

Maybe he was naïve after all.


End file.
